But You Can Never Leave
by Pimpernel Princess
Summary: Songfic with the Eagle's "Hotel California." Slightly OOC, Musicalverse, oneshot. A blending of two unexpected things: Beauty and the Beast and classic rock. The lines in the song correlate perfectly with the story. Enjoy!


**A/N: **A combination of two of my favorite things: BATB and classic rock. I always thought this song would make a lovely pairing with the movie-but I'll let you decide for yourself. Bonus points: turn on the song to set the mood. Credit goes to where it's due-the Eagle's song "Hotel California," the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast," and "King Kong" for letting me steal their most iconic line.

* * *

_On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair_

_Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air_

_Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light_

_My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim_

_I had to stop for the night_

Belle hurried along the causeway, toward the castle that shimmered in the mist. The wind pushed her hair across her face; Belle shook her vision free, not pausing for a moment. She had to find her father in that labyrinth of gloom, before her strength gave out. She would have to stop soon, while she still had some strength within her.

_There she stood in the doorway;I heard the mission bell_

_And I was thinking to myself,_

_'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'_

_Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way_

_There were voices down the corridor,_

_I thought I heard them say..._

The heavy oak doors opened to her lightest touch; Belle was inside the castle at last, staring up at the vast vaults of ceiling, stairs, tapestries, gold and marble. She shivered a little, stepping further into the hall as she searched for a place where her father would be. It was beautiful, an ice palace, a dungeon of marble.

A light moved in one of the corridors nearby, the echo of voices following.

"Hello?" Belle called, but no one answered. She trailed after the light and the voices, hoping to be led to her father.

_Welcome to the Hotel California_

_Such a lovely place_

_Such a lovely face_

_Plenty of room at the Hotel California_

_Any time of year_

_You can find it here_

The castle had many rooms, gilded and painted in gloomy decadence. Belle followed the light up stone stairways, to a tower prison. Both the light and the voices had stopped; heedless of whomever else was there, Belle sprang forward when she found her father locked in a drafty cell.

Now, prisoner to a Beast she couldn't even glance at without cringing, the walls seemed to taunt her with an ironic welcome. They would keep her in, even without her promise to stay in exchange for her father.

_Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends_

_She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends_

_How they dance in the courtyard,_

_ Sweet summer sweat,_

_Some dance to remember, some dance to forget_

Even through her heartbreak and obvious lack of freedom, Belle still enjoyed the dresses given for her use, the jewelry too. Sometimes, Mrs. Potts took pity on her and brought her a book of fairy tales. Belle liked to think that the Knights of the Round Table, the Hobbits, or the Princes in fairy tales were her handsome friends, unreal as they were. Their stories were always filled with wonder and loveliness, leading her into the outside world, remembering the sun and her father's love, forgetting the gloom and misery inside.

_So I called up the Captain,_

_'Please bring me my wine'_

_He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'_

_And still those voices are calling from far away,_

_Wake you up in the middle of the night_

_Just to hear them say..._

Just once, Belle said to the Beast "May I have my freedom?"

"Freedom is something we haven't had here for a long time. You will never be free now that you have looked upon my face. This monster has been burned into your brain."

Belle jerked awake-the exchange had been a dream. Belle shook herself and curled up in the window seat, gazing out on the moonlit snow. But then the gargoyles began to stare at her, gloating, guarding.

_Welcome to the Hotel California_

_Such a lovely place_

_Such a lovely face_

_They're livin' it up at the Hotel California_

_What a nice surprise_

_Bring your alibis_

Now Beast was her friend, whoever thought that this could be? He had saved her life and she his. The castle became more lovely, day by day, awaiting the coming of spring. There were now subtle excuses for Belle and the Beast to spend more time together, reading, snowball fights, dinner together.

_Mirrors on the ceiling,_

_The pink champagne on ice_

_And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'_

Their splendid supper that night was the most luxurious the castle had ever seen; every mirror in the ballroom had been polished. Belle herself glowed in her golden dress, cheeks like pink champagne during their dance. And now she was free to go after her father, no longer a prisoner-had not been for a long time. There had been a change in both of them, Belle realized as she flew to find her father.

_And in the master's chambers,_

_They gathered for the feast_

_They stab it with their steely knives,_

_But they just can't kill the beast_

And now the mob raced across the causeway, unaware of the enchanted shimmer of the castle, or the breezes at odds with their torches. They went marching into battle, unaware thought that the danger had increased, gathered to kill the Beast and gather their spoils. Guns and knives ready, they were no match for the army of enchantments that awaited them. The Beast was stabbed with steel, not yet dying. Belle held him in her arms, for in the end it was her beauty, through another man's jealousy, that had killed the Beast. But yet, he wasn't dead. No, now he was a man, unknown to her, unfamiliar. Not her lover, but someone else entirely.

_Last thing I remember, I was_

_Running for the door_

_I had to find the passage back_

_To the place I was before_

_'Relax,' said the night man,_

_'We are programmed to please,_

_You can check-out any time you like__,_

_But you can never leave!'_


End file.
